Tired of viruses and bugs? Ditch Microsoft

News this morning of the security problems with Microsoft Office v. X and the subsequent release of a small security patch to close the hole in the anti-piracy code used by Microsoft in the OS X software has me thinking.

I haven't purchased Office for OS X yet, even though as a writer I am required at times to use Microsoft Word to work with files sent to book and magazine publishers. One of the reasons I haven't taken the $300 leap to upgrade from Office 98, which I seldom use under Classic, to Office v. X is that I have little desire to deal with the bugs that are inherent in Microsoft products. Yes, every software developer ships programs with bugs, but Microsoft has a lead over other companies in this department. And when those buggy programs are needed for mission-critical work, those bugs and security problems can grow into a major headache.

Over the years, I have found the best antidote to Internet viruses and computer security concerns is to avoid Microsoft products like the plague. Think about it - every major virus or Internet attack has been enabled by shortcomings in Microsoft products. Code Red - Microsoft code allowed the problems. E-mail viruses - most spread through Outlook, Microsoft's e-mail client. You can pick just about any virus and the root enabler of the virus's spread is a problem with Microsoft code, and to make matters worse, many of these bugs and shortcomings have been known to Microsoft for years. Their developers simply neglect to fix the bugs across the entire product line, so that every time a new version of an MS product arrives there is every chance that the bugs you thought were gone after running a patch on the old version of the software are back to visit with the new version.

The solution to this problem is not pain free. Microsoft products are everywhere and they are widely viewed as must-have software. If you use an alternative word processor, for instance, it had better import Word files and export to Word format or you will face major problems working with the many people who refuse to use anything other than MS products. In order to be good computer citizens, you have to make allowances to work with Microsoft products. But there are alternatives. On OS X, many other applications can to the same work as Office products. AppleWorks 6.2 is just one example.

This is the way I view it: One reason I use a Mac is that the underlying system is less likely to be attacked by hackers than if I used Windows. Sure, the Mac has some killer applications that help make this decision easy, but a big plus to running Macs as a small business owner is that the machines are easier to maintain and one part of that is that viruses and crippling security risks are lessened, at least at this point in time, just by choosing Apple products. And, since I decided to use Apple products to avoid many of the pitfalls I would face if I was running Windows, why would I then decide to hop into bed with Microsoft and introduce more of their buggy products to a machine that I want to rely on?

With this underlying philosophy, the decision is pretty easy. I minimize my exposure to Microsoft and at the same time minimize my exposure to viruses and bugs. That folks is a win-win situation.

Alternatives to Microsoft products under OS X

This list is not exhaustive, but it shows some of the options that OS X users can use rather than adding more Microsoft code to their systems:

Office suites
AppleWorks 6.2

Word processors
TextEdit (from Apple)
BBEdit 6.5.2
BBEdit Lite 6.1.2
Z-Write
Mariner Write 3.0.1

Web browsers
OmniWeb 4.1sp38
Opera 5.0b3
iCab 2.7
Mozilla 0.9.8
Netscape X 6.2.1

E-mail clients
PowerMail 3.1.1
Eudora 5.1b20
SweetMail X 2.1r7
Mullberry 2.2b1
Magellan 3.1.1

Database applications
Filemaker 5.5
4D 6.7.5
Panorama 4.0.1

Spreadsheet applications
Mariner 5.1.1
Mesa 3